Wanted
by enIIgma-chan
Summary: Before the Organization sent Irene, Sophia, Noel and Priscilla to deal with Teresa of the faint smile, they decided to send someone else first... Updated! Plz read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Wanted**

Disclaimer: I do not own Claymore.

xXxXx

The man in black attire, Orsay couldn't believe what he was seeing. The six claymores carrying out an order of ending the life of Teresa - the organization's current number one soldier, all fell to their knees in one fell swoop. Teresa stood where she was, completely unscathed from their combined assault. One of the advantages of being the strongest claymore of all the others, six to one merely meant nothing.

"Forgive me," Teresa said, apologetically. "But I don't feeling like dying just yet."

"What is the meaning of this... Teresa?" The man in black demanded.

"The reason's very simple," her mouth tilted, almost a grin. "I've found a reason to live. From now on, I'm going to live for the girl."

Her answer surprised him greatly; for a claymore to say something like that was very uncommon. This may have been the first time, Orsay had to hear such a thing, a claymore willing to go on living for another person. It was difficult for him to comprehend.

"You will regret this," he finally said.

"I won't." She answered him almost immediately. "I have no reason to."

Orsay briefly closed his eyes when Teresa and the little girl name Clare walked pass him and heading off to an unknown destination. The council wouldn't be too pleased if they heard Teresa was still alive. There was no other option but to send stronger warriors to take care of the number one rank warrior who had gone astray.

"This has become troublesome," a man's voice interjected. "To think that the strongest among us, Teresa of the faint smile would rebel..."

"There's nothing to worry about." That was a lie. "Summon numbers two through five... and have them subdue Teresa."

"That won't be necessary," another voice suddenly said. Both men looked towards the person that spoke. "The council figured this would happen ahead of time and decided to take this matter in a different approach."

"Isa... why are you here and what do you mean by that exactly?" Orsay asked the young woman also in her black attire.

"I think you already have a good understanding what all of this means," she answered him, evading the question.

"Don't toy with me, young one. Just because Rimuto favors you doesn't mean you can say whatever you want," he said sharply. "Now, for what reason are you here and what exactly do you mean?"

Isa gave him a challenging glare, before conceding. "To put it simply," she began. "I'm here to inform you that I'll be taking charge of this 'Teresa' matter and use the claymore that is under my supervision."

"You can't be serious!" Orsay stared at her, shocked. Knowing all too well what that meant. "The council simply would not allow it."

"Well, they just did," Isa said offhandedly, finding it amusing despite the seriousness of the situation. And seeing the shock on his face was quite rewarding. You just didn't catch that kind of expression on his face too often.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," he stated dryly.

"Perhaps," Isa admitted. "However, I must say, I'm quite intrigued in how Efrem would fare against the organization's number one soldier and I'm certain the council feels the same."

"Of course," Orsay nodded, still wondering why the council would go in such a direction. Hastily, deciding to use the highly classified male claymore that was one of it's kind. Not many knew of his existance, only the organization's council members and the trusted handlers. "How is he, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Efrem? He's doing wonderfully," she said, in a thoughtful tone. "He has gotten strong and displays tremendous capabilities of a number one rank soldier... thus becoming the perfect warrior that will possibly rival Teresa of the faint smile."

Orsay closed his eyes again. "I see," he said, accepting her words. "Then I will leave it to you. I'll be expecting some good results."

"Yes, of course. He will, most definitely," Isa answered, trying not to sound too proud. "I have to inform him of this matter too."

"Where is he now?"

"Up north. Doing some reconnaissance on Isley and his army for the time being," her voice sounding hollow and distant in his ears.

Orsay looked at her curiously. "Will he be alright, for him to be in a dangerous area like that?"

"It shouldn't be a problem. He mastered cloaking his yoki and is capable of defeating any above average awakened beings without releasing any of his yoki." Isa gave a deep sigh, and looked up at the sun. "I should be on my way, we're suppose to make rendezvous point in the city of Teo. We only have a week or so to complete the mission before we depart."

"Depart? Where to?"

"The mainland." Isa merely replied; turning as if she adjoured the meeting and not looking back.

Astonishment all over again. "The mainland?!" The other man exclaimed, half-believing it. "That's--"

"Quiet." Orsay said, silencing him. "How come I wasn't aware of this?"

Too many damn questions, Isa thought bitterly as she abruptly stopped her in track. "With all due respect," she said, before continuing. "It's not any of your concern."

Orsay didn't say anything else, simply because there was nothing left to say. "This is probably the last time you will see me regradless if Efrem defeats Teresa or not," Isa waved her hand at no one in particular. "Farewell."

Both men looked on til the point they could no longer see her anymore. Orsay then, turned his attention to the injured claymores, slightly disappointed by the whole outcome. The claymore assigned as the leader came up to him. "Our deepest apologies, sir," she said, bowing her head. "We simply weren't strong enough."

"Not a problem," he said, uninterested. "Take a day to recuperate yourselves and report back to your assigned locations."

"We will. Thank you, sir." The claymore said, feeling adsurdly grateful.

What a miserable day this has been, Orsay finally concluded absentmindedly... in regards to Teresa and being kept out of the loop on the organization's next move had left a bad taste in his mouth.

xXxXx

In the northern lands of Alfonse, heavy snow fell like volcanic ash and started to accumulate on the hard frozen ground. A hooded person stood behind a large tree overlooking a small canyon, quietly gazing down at the male and female awakened beings. It was an odd sight seeing a male and a female together. Normally, most awakened beings avoided fraternizing with those of the opposite gender. Not a minute later, five regular yomas joined the awakened beings.

The gathered group started conversing together, quite obvious they were planning something unpleasant. Not far from here lay a small town full with people. The north was the 'White silver king's' territory, however, this group didn't seem to care who it belonged to. The hooded person unexpectedly made it's move by jumping down and landing close to them. The two awakened beings noticed some movements in the corner of their eye and looked in that direction. The yomas followed suit by turning in the same direction too.

"A human?" The female awakened being with a slender humanoid form said, puzzled.

The hooded person stood from it's crouch position and directed it's attention at the perplexed group. The unknown guest then started to make it's way towards them, seemingly unafraid of what was in it's path. Both awakened beings tensed, while the yomas were glancing amongst themselves, unsure what was going on.

"Stop right there!" The male awakened being broke in sharply. "Identify yourself?!" His awakened form resembled that of a minotaur with two huge menacing horns pointing upwards.

"My name is Efrem," the advancing intruder firmly announced. "I will be your executioner."

"Don't be rid--"

He quickly vanished from their line of sight and dispatched two of the yomas by cutting them from shoulder to waist with a claymore before the remaining group could even register what was happening. The attacker was already on his third and fourth kill when they realized two... no four had gone down. The male awakened being growled loudly and kicked the last yoma in front of him. "Kill him! Turn his body to shreds!"

Unfortunately, the yoma didn't have the slightest chance to do as told as a sharp blade entered it's chest and fell down lifeless. "Damn you, you bastard!" The male awakened being bellowed and attacked. It lunged foward for the kill with a deadly swipe, but found nothing at the other end and spun it's huge form as quick as it possibly can to reengage, only to find that his left arm had been sliced off. "Argh-! Impossible!"

The intense pain of having an arm cut off was quickly replaced with a new pain coming from his lower body and saw a thorn-like tentacle had pierced through his leg. "Ugh-! What are you doing, Jillia?!" The female awakened being immediately retracted it's tentacle, "S-sorry, I wasn't aiming for yo-- Graham! Look out! Above you!" Graham's two mencing horns instinctively shot out to intercept the attacker in mid-air but was parried off and severed with ease. "What in the hell are you, you freakin' demon! A claymore?! Not possible!" At lease it's voice didn't shake.

"I am death," the still hooded person said, before thrusting the claymore into the male's wide open mouth in a split of a second. The male awakened being's huge shoulders shook violently at first, then crashed to the snowy ground dead. "Graham..." the female awakened being name Jillia said, so softly that she could barely hear herself. "... no, this isn't real."

She took a step back in fear, realizing the only one left was her. "You have nowhere to run," he said to her, still looking at the dead male's body without remorse. "Just accept the fact that you're going to die like all the rest."

The awakened being Jillia didn't detect any yoki coming from him, so what was he? Not a claymore, right? Right? Then why was he holding a sword that very much resembled a claymore. "Y-you're a male claymore aren't you?" she asked, hoping it's not true.

"It doesn't matter what I am," he replied turning and close the distance between him and her.

"Halt! Stop! I'll kill you!" She cried out frantically, but had no sting to it. "I'm warning you!"

"Why should I stop for a monster like you," he asked her, not expecting an answer back. "Don't worry. I promise to make your death quick and painless as possible."

That did it for her as she unleashed everthing she had at him. Her amazingly fast tentacles started obliterating everything in sight except they weren't hitting the actual eluding target. "God dammit! Why won't you die!" Jillia shouted, vehemently. "Just die will you! Die!" Not long after, she was able to get a clear view of him and fired her tongue from her mouth at high speed but to her dismay; she missed again. Why was that?! Her tongue went through a boulder instead. Jillia shrieked loudly in complete frustration and angrily destroyed the large rock by coiling it's tongue around and crushing it. Jillia hurriedly retreated her long extended tongue back into her mouth but was startled to see him standing in front of her unharm. The female awakened being froze in place and didn't dare move an inch.

"This pathetic attempt of making it out alive ends here," he said, looking at her nonchalantly. "Didn't I promised you a quick death... Jillia?"

She flinched for some reason when he said her name. "You're the one that's truly a monster," she told him plainly, while the thought of dying grip her awakened form. No words were spoken to counter what she said. His only reaction was a meaningful smirk before disappearing from her sight once more, only to see him reappear, bringing in that claymore for the kill.

It was moving too fast for Jillia to evade it in time. The heavy blade cut the upper part of her head right off. Her body remained standing like a statue for a moment, then timbering backwards and coloring the fresh fallen snow in her blood.

Efrem sighed dejectedly and stabbed the claymore in the snowy ground to check himself. Paying no heed at the deceased body of the female awakened being next to him. It was rather disappointing to see them go down so quickly. Doing the reconnaisance on Isley and his army was more exciting than doing something like this... his silver eyes sailed across the dead bodies of yomas and awakened beings.

But looking at it on the positive side, he saved a small town from getting wiped out. Efrem retrieved his sword from the snow and looked towards the south. It was time for him to head back and meet up with his handler Isa in the city of Teo. This next mission that she has for him better be a promising one, he thought as he slowly disappeared in the thick falling snow of the north.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Claymore - Wanted**

Disclaimer: I do not own Claymore and some of the characters in the story.

A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews, Isley Dweller of the Deep and Madwomans. I apologize for taking too long because I'm doing two different kinds of claymore fan fics right now. Please read and review everyone!

xXxXx

The cool southern breeze greeted Efrem by gently swaying his cloak in the wind. It felt good to be back in the southern lands. Efrem took a deep breath of the refreshing air and slowly exhaled. It had been awhile since he last been in this area, carefully avoiding the organization's female warriors, yomas and awakened beings due to the fact he was a male warrior in secrecy.

Efrem could see the city Teo from a distance. He detected the presence of a warrior and several yomas within the city. This female warrior however... emitted a faint yoki so she must be a lower rank warrior - in the 40's perhaps? And the yomas, there were three of them, probably hiding themselves in the populace. _Will she be able to succeed in ridding the yomas?_ That thought alone started to resonate in his mind.

"Take it easy. It ain't your problem." He told himself plainly.

Even though telling himself it had noting to do with him, Efrem still found himself walking much quicker than before. He never once interfered in other warrior's battles so why was he thinking it now? Was it because she wasn't strong to handle it herself? _Oh hell. I must be outta my mind._ He finally concluded and started to run towards the city in such an amazing speed.

He quickly went by the city guards as they were too busy inspecting an inbound wagon that was full of goods. As soon as Efrem made it in the city, he immediately scaled the tall building closest to him so he could get a clear view and have a better reading of the yomas exact location. It only took a moment to pin point the yomas and he also noticed that the female warrior was straying from her targets.

But the yomas, to his surprise, were following her for some reason. Did she know about it or did she not have the slightest clue? He let out a sigh and jumped down from the roof into a dark alley and proceeded to go after them.

The streets were filled with vendors and shoppers but that didn't slow him down one bit. Less than a minute later, he caught up with the warrior in question and got a full visual of her. Her body was slender built and her blonde hair was not near shoulder length. She was talking to a middle aged man and was holding something in her hand. The man kept shaking his head 'no' while she tried to convince him to take what was in her hand.

"I said no, now just go away!" Efrem heard the man shout.

The middle aged man simply walked away, not bothering to look back. She stood alone in the empty street and holding the item in a tight fist. Looking at her now, he sort of felt sorry for her. She was in a miserable state and the claymore she was carrying on her back wasn't helping either as it looked too big for her to be wielding it around in the first place. _How was she able to make it as a warrior? _That he did not know or better yet, he didn't want to know.

Efrem saw the trailing yomas and there were three of them in their human form. They were waiting patiently for an opportunity to strike. He looked back at the female warrior and was surprise to see her sobbing. _Hey now, this ain't the time for that, You're gonna get yourself killed. Can't you sense them at all? _He glared at her as she turned the other direction as she covered her face with her left arm. That was when the yomas took the initiative.

The three yomas attacked, shocking her completely. Her tear stained face looked horrified and confused by the sudden attack. She leaped out of the way just in time as dozen sharp extended fingers hit where she'd been walking and started running to get in better fighting position so she could fend off the attacks but the three yomas were already a few steps ahead of her as they successfully closed off all the escape routes. She halted when she realized she was surrounded but still desperately searched for a way out.

"Time to die, you stupid witch!"

The yoma in the back of her was about make another attack when it's head suddenly flew off it's body. After disposing the first one, Efrem briskly turned on his right heel and dash foward to cut down the next nearest yoma in it's exposed abdomen. The last and remaining yoma was in full retreat unsurprisingly and was about fifty meters away when Efrem's heavy blade entered the yoma's back and sent it flying ten more meters.

"W-who are you?!" The shaken warrior suddenly burst out. "That was- I mean... everything happened so quick... I don't underst-"

He immediately moved in and punched her in the stomach with a bit of force which intantly brought her to her knees. She barely managed to look up; her mouth was wide open in shock and was still clutching the spot she got hit. A moment later, she blanked out and fell to the ground unconscious.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, miss," he said bleakly, "I'd have to kill you too."

People started to gather. Efrem quickly picked her up and her sword without difficulty. He then rushed over to the dead yoma that was the farthest away and took back his claymore. "Well, let's skiddattle, shall we?" He asked her, not really expecting a reply.

Efrem covered part of her body with his cloak and swiftly made an exit by entering into another dark alley, only to exit out in another street. It was more crowded and made it easier for him to blend in with the people. He carried her for a couple minutes til he was able to find an inn. Efrem went in and gently placed her in a cushion wooden chair.

He glanced over at the frightened owner. "I'll leave her in your care until she fully regains consciousness," he said before the person could say anything. "Here's some money, for taking care of the girl."

The woman nodded hesitantly but couldn't look away from his silvery eyes. He knelt down next to the unconscious girl and noticed she was still holding something in her hand. Efrem carefully opened it and saw five gold pins in her palm. He close her hand back after he understood what she was trying to do and stood up.

"I will be going now, ma'am. Have a good day."

"Take care, kind warrior," the woman said at last. "May the gods be with you."

He smiled at her and exited the inn.

xXxXx

Isa tapped her foot impatiently and her arms were crossed while she waited for her male warrior to arrive. She'd been waiting in this tavern for more than a few hours now and because of that, every damn drunkard in here were coming up to her, offering her a drink. And giving them her deadly glare didn't seem to affect them no more, maybe it was because they were too drunk to notice.

"For the last time, I don't want any!" She said irritatedly.

"Ah, come on, pretty lady." The drunken big man replied and hiccuped. "I'm just... i'm just trying to be n-nice."

"If I wanted something to drink, I would've gotten it myself."

"Huh?" The man was in a state of not understanding anymore. "Wha did y-you say? H-here... down this pint of beer f-for me would ya?"

She rose from her chair. "I'm leaving."

"Oh n-no you're not going a-anywhere, m-missy." The man responded, getting in her way. "W-we're just gettin' s-started."

"Move it."

"N-nah uh."

She attempted to go by him to his right but he blocked her. Then again to his left and it was the same result. She glared up at him and tried to go to his right once more but he grabbed her arm this time and harshly yanking her back in front of him. "Oops, I'm so s-sorry," he grinned at her, not sounding sorry at all. Isa winced and held her hurting arm. She then unexpectedly punched the big man's chest out of anger with her good arm.

Isa thought she put everything she had in that punch but the man just looked down at her puzzled. "T-that k-kinda tickled," he told her and pushed her backwards, bringing down a table with her.

"Then allow me." A voice suddenly said and the big man went soaring over Isa and crashing loudly at the other end.

"Big Brute! You okay, buddy?!" His comrades all rushed to him. "He's out cold!"

The men looked in Efrem's way and he simply stared back dangerously. They instantly took the hint and left the tavern along with 'Big Brute.'

"You're late! You're really late!" Isa said getting back up. "Care to explain yourself!"

"I got held up."

"That's not good enough!" She quickly strode before him. "My arm hurts now because of your lateness!"

"I'm sorry," he said, apologetically. "You want me to kiss it for you so it'll go away?"

She glared at him even more. "Not interested! Now have a seat!"

He raised up his hands in defeat and took a seat near the window. Isa sat across from him and observed him for a moment. "I see you've dyed your hair." Efrem removed the hood of his cloak and showing it to her completely.

"I figured it'd be best if I did it this way so that I wouldn't be discovered by someone else."

"What if someone suspects you of being an awakened being?" She questioned, her eyes meeting his silvery ones. "What then?

"Awakened beings don't carry swords unless you know of one, do you?" Efrem answered her question with a question of his own.

"No. I don't believe I do," Isa said, setting her hands down in the center of the table. "Efrem, we have a situation and the organization summoned you to take care of the problem."

"Oh? How thoughtful of them," he said, pleasantly enough. "Who is it?"

"Teresa of the faint smile," she replied and watched his shoulders tighten slightly. "The organization's current number one ranked warrior."

"Did she awakened?" He gave her a quizzical look. "Is that the reason why?"

"Teresa didn't awakened but she apparently gone rogue after she killed a bunch of human bandits," Isa went on after a brief pause," It's an iron clad rule for the organization's warriors not to kill any humans. And if they do, they are to be executed for their crime."

Efrem raked his fingers through his hair and took a breath. "I see. I'll get on it immediately."

"I have this other thing that I want to discuss with you," she said, glancing up at him as he stood up. "But I think it could wait until this 'Teresa' matter is taken care of."

"Okay. Where she is now?"

"Teresa's much further south," she told him. "Traveling with a companion of hers, a young human girl."

He turned his attention back to her. "What should I do with her?"

"Just worry about Teresa for now and everything will fall into place soon after," she said coolly.

"Understood." Efrem relaxed a little, and went on. "But before I leave, you wouldn't mind if I bought us some drinks, would you?"

"No," Isa gave him a sharp look and offered him a smile. "I don't mind it at all."

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Claymore - Wanted**

Disclaimer: I do not own Claymore and some of the characters in the story.

A/N: Updated! Finally! Ha ha! To those that left their reviews (Isley. Dweller of the deep, Madwomans, Langrabbit and Yume girl 91) thanks for encouraging me and telling me to take my time in writing the story.

xXxXx

Chapter three

For a long moment Nel contemplated if she had committed the biggest mistake of her life, hastily accepting an unconscious claymore for that matter in her working establishment. She walked back and forth, trying calm her nerves by thinking positively. The stranger that left did leave her alot of money and it was enough to accommodate one guest for a whole month but that wasn't important right now. It seem the young woman in her care was burning up and sweating from the brow. Almost unwillingly, Nel hurriedly went to go fetch a bucket of cold water and cloth to help cool her down a bit. Less than a minute later, she came rushing back and started attending to her.

The claymore jerked slightly when she felt someone put a cold wet cloth onto her forehead. Nel paused at first but continued applying the wet cloth on the young woman's forehead. Soon after, Nel saw her open her eyes and turned her head from side to side, still half conscious. "Where am I?" she asked her weakly.

"Y-you're in an inn," Nel said to her.

"Oh." she simply said. "For how long was I out?"

"Not very long."

She looked around a bit. "How did I get here?"

"A stranger brought you in and put you in my care."

"I see," she said softly. "How nice of the stranger," and went back to closing her eyes. It took several seconds before everything came crashing back. "What?!" She quickly rose from the wooden chair, very alert and disoriented. Nel in fear of her life safely retreated to the corner of the room and was clutching the wet cloth in her hands.

"This stranger," the young woman began. "How long ago did this stranger leave?"

"T-this stranger," Nel said in a small voice. "He ..."

"He?" she interrupted her. "Are you telling me, the stranger that brought me here was a man?"

"Y-yes," she nodded minutely. "That is correct."

"... and?"

"L-like I said, he asked me to take care of you and left immediately after that."

The claymore stared at her intensely, not bothering to even blink as if she was having a difficult time accepting her words. "My sword," she finally said. "Where is my sword?"

"Huh? Sword? Oh, it's in the other room," Nel felt foolish and pointed at the room. "I will go get it for you."

"No need," the young woman put her hand on Nel's shoulder. "I will get it myself."

Her heavy footsteps echoed as she walked in the room and saw her claymore on top of the table. She picked it up and inspect it for a moment and put it back in its holder after finding nothing wrong and exited the room. "The man that brought me here," she said, still wanting to ask her some more questions. "Was there anything unusual about him?"

"Unusual?"

"Yes. Something that's out of the ordinary, so to speak."

Nel was deep in thought. "I could tell he knew how to fight, like a warrior," she said after a long pause. "I don't know how to say this but I feel as if I've known him for some reason. And I couldn't forget how his eyes were..."

"His eyes?"

"Yes, his eyes, they were..." Nel paused. "They were also silver, like yours."

The organization's 46th ranked claymore face's pale almost instantly and whatever response she had got stuck in her mouth. Seeing this and remembering kind stranger, Nel decided to say something else to ease the moment. "I used to have a son, you know," she said. "It was sixteen years ago, when he was suddenly taken away from me. He was only three and half years old."

Her words hung in the air for a moment. "Call it a mother's intuition but I'm fairly certain that he's still alive out there somewhere. I pray for him everyday, hoping he would return to me some day."

"I... I'm sure he's still out there." the claymore replied, somewhat recovering from the shocking news she just heard. "What about your husband?"

"I was quite young at the time," she said, her heart sinking. "Stephen and I, we were together but we weren't really married. He left for Rabona one day, long before our son was even born because he wanted to support us by becoming a soldier. A week after he had left, news travelled back, saying he died fighting a yoma while still enroute to Rabona. I don't know if it was true or not. I didn't put any effort in it to find out the complete truth."

The atmosphere turn eeriely quiet.

"You must think that I'm a horrible person, don't you?" Nel asked, breaking the eerie silence. "Doing absolutely nothing at the time, if Stephen was really alive or not."

The young woman simply shook her head. "Not at all. I think you are a strong person."

Nel smiled lightly. "I don't think so. The fact is I'm weak and a coward."

"You're wrong," she spoke up. "What I see is a person who continues to live on in spite of losing those most important to her and keeps on hoping for her love ones to return some day. If it were me, I'm not sure how I'd be able to endure such... thing of that magnitude."

"But you're a claymore? Surely, you can?"

"I am what you say," she said frowning. "But as human beings, some are not as equally strong emotionally as others are."

Nel chuckled. "You're very different from the others. From your comrades I mean."

"T-thanks," she said, her face turning red.

"Most of them have these cold demeanors and are quite scary to approach but you're not like that, are you?"

"I guess," she said honestly. "I try to be more open and friendly so that people wouldn't be afraid of me."

"So what's your name? "

"My name is Andrea," she replied firmly. "And you?."

"I'm Nel," she told her. "I am also the owner of this inn."

Andrea frowned at her. "I am sorry," she said. "I must've been a nuisance to you and perhaps frightened some of your customers while you were taking care of me."

"It's nothing to worry yourself over," Nel assured her. "May I ask why you were brought in unconscious?"

There was a short silence. "I'd rather not say," Andrea said, "but I will say, I was fighting some yoma."

"Yo--" Nel suddenly got interrupted when a group of men carrying a large man burst through the door.

"Ah! Nel! Please help us!"

"Goodness gracious," she said, already moving towards them. "What the heck happened? Is that Brutus, you guys carrying?"

"That'd be him," one of them answered. "He got himself drunk and messed with the wrong fellow."

"But look at him," Nel said astonished. "Who'd in their right mind want to face someone like him, even if he's completely drunk?"

The one that spoke was about to reply again, but instead saw Andrea standing not far away. "A claymore?"

Nel turned and introduce her to the men. "Gentlemen, this young lady is Andrea. She and I were having a conversation when you guys came rushing in like a bunch of maniacs." She laughed lightly.

They nodded anxiously and didn't say anything.

"Andrea?" That was Nel.

"Charmed." Andrea said, giving them a stone cold look.

"Okay," Nel said, breaking the sudden silence. "What I would like to know, who this person is that put Brutus in such disposition?"

"The guy was amazingly strong." A different guy answered this time. "He threw Big Brute, I mean Brutus like he wasn't heavy at all and was also carrying a huge sword like hers." They all looked at Andrea, including Nel.

Andrea's eyes lit up instantly and without realizing strode to the man and grabbed him by the shirt. "Where was this?! Tell me!"

"Wai... ah minu... umm..." he stumbled through his words, looking quite terrified.

Nel looked horrified. "Andrea! Please! Don't hurt him!"

Andrea let go of him, understanding what she was doing and backed away, appalled by her actions. Just now, she had broken one of the Organization's rules and that was not to harm any humans no matter what. The rest of the men moved farther away from her, except for Nel who looked surprisingly concern for Andrea, after seeing the claymore's shock expression when she release the man.

"Are you okay, hon?" Nel inched closer to Andrea.

"I'm very sorry," she apologized. "I did not mean no harm and it was uncalled for."

"Aghh... oww," Brutus stirred. "What's with all the ruckus, my head hurts."

"Brutus!" Nel and the men exclaimed loudly.

Andrea got in front of the big guy before anyone could say another word. "Excuse me, sir? Could you please tell me where this person is, the one that did this to you? I would so much appreciate it." She offered him a pleasant smile.

"Claymore!" Brutus shouted in complete surprise and crawled a good distance from her. "I won't do it again. I promise! I was just being stupid and went out of line. So can you rely this message to him? I'll behave from now on. I swear!"

She almost laughed. "I will let him know. Now Brutus, where did you last see him?"

He let out a shaky breath. "At the t-tavern... is where you'll find him, that is if he's still there."

"Thank you," she said and turned to Nel. "I must get going if I want to catch up with him. And thank you for taking care of me."

Nel smiled warmly at her. "You're welcome and do be careful. It's a very dangerous world out there."

Andrea nodded and shook her hand. "I sure will."

They watched the claymore leave in a hurry and Nel felt sad all of the sudden. This was probably the first time, in a long time she had feelings of attachment to another person since losing her only child. Maybe it was because her son would've been at the same age as Andrea if he was still with her. She put her hands together and silently prayed for Andrea, asking the great powers above to look after her well being and help her find what she is searching for in these troubled times.

xXxXx

There wasn't much time left to spare as Andrea ran as fast she possibly could. She almost tripped and fell when she leaped from one building roof to another, due to the anticipation of excitement and fear? In her mind - alarm bell sounded repeatedly, telling her not to proceed. And yet, she continued on, forcing her body to ignore it. For the short time she'd been with the organization, Andrea invariably listened to her conscience but it wasn't the case now when she got a visual of the tavern.

Andrea halted and took several breaths, trying to compose herself. She had no idea what would transpire once she set foot in that building and confront the individual that saved her butt when she got ambushed. Slowly yet surely, she opened the door and cautiously entered. It looked decent enough as her head went side to side, scanning the place. To her dismay and disappointment, it seemed like he wasn't here anymore and there was no evident of a fight occuring too. When the customers saw her, it got quiet in a heart beat. Not even a cough or a sound of movement could be heard. The armor she was wearing clanked as she made her way to the 'frightened out of his wits' bartender.

"I am looking for someone," she firmly said, not dropping her gaze.

"What's a little rabbit like you doing here?" A female voice interjected before the bartender could respond.

Andrea immediately snapped her head into the direction of the voice. At first, she couldn't possibly know what to think when she saw the woman. And second, her mouth was evidently open in shock and awe. _How was she not able to see her? She wasn't there a few moments ago..._

_"_Weren't you suppose to be out there, killing yomas?" she questioned her again.

She simply stared at the woman in black and was at lost of words. In the organization, never had she seen a female handler like the one sitting before her. Only male handlers. The woman was stunningly beautiful. She held an alcoholic drink in her hand and had her right leg crossed over onto her left thigh and was smiling at her for no apparent reason. "Well... little rabbit. I ain't got all day."

To be continued...


End file.
